January 2011

January 18, 2011

I'm determined to organize the problem spots in my house, you know those areas already in such disarray that they are just left that way. They are an eyesore, a sigh, a constant source of frustration each time you go there to find something you determine to clean up the mess, stop the madness. except that you don't. You live with it. Shut the drawer, close the door, dump it in a random container and go on scrubbing the floor, doing the dishes, sorting the laundry, um homeschool your 3 wily kids...

I'm hoping that by posting pictures of some of my trouble areas I will be motivated to post after pics of the CLEANED up mess. We'll see, it's worth a try;)

This is a buffet in the kitchen and a magnet for all thing I don't know what to do with. This is actually a clean-er photo!

My junk drawers. Need I say more?

The old pantry. Again, an example of the shove-it-in-somewhere affliction.

This is supposed to a place for homeschool audio and daily homeschool couch reading...Uh hmm...

The top the television armoire. Now I do keep this clean. Everyone else messes it up. It's clean now, but it ws a wreck when I was snapping these horrible pics so I included.

This built in is in the den which right now is the baby's room and will soon be the school room so it WILL be cleaned out...SOON!

The bathroom linen closet. This is our only bathroom storage until I make a trip to IKEA to replace our vanity and add a small linen closet to hold daily-used tolietries.

So there you have it. Yuck. Makes me want to clean and organize...kind of.

January 11, 2011

Last year we planted 16 raised beds. It was a good harvest and I learned A LOT from the first year where I had 3 beds plus 2 plots. Not to mention, all the berry bushes and fruit trees we had planted the previous fall.

We lost our blueberies in the SUPER HOT southern summer.

We lost a blackraspberry bush to someone mowing chopping it down.

We lost a persimmon tree.

My strawberries did so-so and I planted a ton, but my vison for their location was just not beneficial so I have started a new bed.

We know know what we really like to eat and what will be easy to preserve/freeze/dehydrate and for the first time the Professor is really on board with putting food by so I'm so excited to go into this season with him.

January 10, 2011

Last night, we received some of the most snow in the 10 plus years since I moved to the South. There is almost 9 inches of powdery white bliss outside and we are stuck in with the stomach bug. All 3 children have fallen to it and the Professor and I are running back and forth trying catch bowls unders chins and change clothing, pillows, and keep the washing going, going, going. Amidst all this, I'd set my sourdough starter to activate. Because our house is kept at a comfortable, but cool, 62 I had to invest in a heating pad to keep the temps between 70-85 degreees. We are on the last half of the activation period and I see bubbles. I think its working! Maybe we everyone is feeling better we can enjoy some wonderful sourdough bread.

January 02, 2011

I've been blogging over at Blogger this fall, doing a bit of a homeschooling posting, and I thought I'd left this blog for dead, but alas, I guess I'm stumbling back to it. Often I want to post something non-related to what I'm doing on the homschooling front, but I didn't want a crossover or to muss up a chronicle I am "trying" to keep.

So a new year is as good a time as any to jump back in and I'll hopefully have some interesting things to post:)